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1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 a6 6. c5 In the previous 2 games as white, Gelfand player 6. Bd3 and 6. Qc2 and got little for it. So now he tries 6. c5. Will 3rd option be a charm.

Erwin l’Ami: ‏Gelfand played 6.c5 a few times before. His wins against Miroshnichenko and Feller (both 2008) are worth checking out!

6..Nbd7 7. Qc2 Once again, they’re are cranking out moves at lightning speed. Now Anand is thinking. This move is rarely played.

7…b6 8. cxb6 I’m not sure if I like the idea of 7…b6 too much. Obviously Anand has something prepared. We’ll see if his idea is good. I like White here.

Anand is spending a lot of time after 8. cxb6. The question is did he forget his preparation? I am curious to know why he is taking so much time for this move.

Pogonina: Grischuk is saying that Anand may be having problems vs Kasparov and Nakamura because both are known for their high level of hatred.

According to what I read, here are the 2 teams:

Anand’s Seconds are:
Peter Heine Nielsen
Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Surya Shekhar Ganguly
Radosław Wojtaszek

Gelfand’s Seconds are:
Alexander Huzman
Levon Aronian
Pavel Eljanov
Maxim Rodshtein

Can anyone confirm this? 🙂

8. cxb6 Nxb6 9. Bd2 c5 10. Rc1 cxd4 11. exd4 Bd6 12. Bg5

This is another idea and possible line: 12. Na4 Nxa4 13. Qc6+ Bd7 14. Qxd6 Ne4 15. Qa3 Nxd2 16. Nxd2 Qe7 17. Qxe7+ Kxe7 18. b3 Nb6 and white has nothing.

12…0-0 13. Bd3 h6 14. Bh4

If I have to pick a side, I choose white here. But Anand’s position is OK.

14…Bb7 15. 0-0

I like 15…Bf4 here to kick the rook off the c file.

15…Qb8 This is a strange looking move. Anand is willing to let Gelfand play 16. Bxf6. The question is why?

16. Bxf6 is the exciting and brave choice.16. Bg3 is the safe choice. 16. Na4 is and interesting choice. Which will Gelfand choose?

On the road in my hotel room. It is likely faster for me to send messages by pigeons than my internet connection.

16. Bg3

Gelfand chose the “safe” choice 🙂 If 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Ne2 f5 18. Qd2 white is doing fairly good.

16…Rc8 17. Qe2 Bxf3 18. hxg3

Also interesting is 18. fxg3 but given the choices Gelfand has made so far, 18. hxg3 is definitely the preferred choice.

18…Qd6 And now Gelfand has two viable options 19. Ne5 or 19. Rc2

19. Rc2 Once again, Gelfand is playing for 2 results. The stake is huge so he wants to take no chances. Is it the right or wrong decision?

19…Nbd7 20. Rfc1 following through with the plan. Black should double his Rooks to the c file as well.

20…Rab8 Gelfand is taking his time here. He is searching for the right plan. There are too many decent options but no knock out plan in his sleeve. At least not that I am aware of.

21. Na4 Gelfand did not find anything spectacular. It is a difficult position. White is better but not enough for any serious break through.

21…Ne4 22. Rxc8+ Bxc8 23. Qc2 White is clearly better but is not something which can assure a victory.

23…g5 Anand allows capturing on e4 as 24. Bxe4 dxe4 25. Qxe4 Bb7 26. Qe3 Bc6 =. The problem is 24. Qc7. This gives white a very comfortable endgame with an edge. This is the type of position Gelfand can thrive on. It is his best shot so far in this match.

24. Qc7 += The other problem for Anand is he is in time pressure. It is not a fun position to defend with little time.

Grischuk: “Black’s task now is to at least make sure White has to play accurate moves to win.”

Anand has made some unusual moves today. This is causing him problems now.

24…Qxc7 25. Rxc7 f6 I do not like this move at all. Now white is nearly winning with 26. Bxe4 dxe4 27. Nd2 f5 28. Nc4 +/-

26. Bxe4 dxe4 27. Nd2 f5 28. Nc4 That is exactly what Gelfand played. I smell the first victory for Gelfand now. Wow. I am curious to hear Anand’s explanation for some of his unusual moves.

28…Nf6 29. Nc5 This is just about over. This is a classic example of good Knights versus bad Bishop. It is a bad day for Anand. It will be interesting to see how Anand will play after falling behind with only 5 games to go.

29…Nd5 30. Ra7 Black is trying but he is almost in zugzwang. His Rook and Bishop are seeing no action.

30…Nb4 Now 31. Nd6 and it is just about over.

31. Ne5 White is still better but 31. Nd6 is technically stronger.

31…Nc2 32. Nc6 Rxb2 Anand is giving up his Bishop for counter play. He is hoping for a miracle. 33. Ra8 or 33.Rc7 wins the Bishop on c8.

33. Rc7 Rb1+ 34. Kh2 e3 35. Rxc8+ It is almost over.

36. Rc7+ Kh8 37. Ne5 e2 38. Nxe6 if 38…e1=Q 39. Ng6+ Kg8 40. Rg7# 1-0

Anand resigns before mate. Gelfand take a lead with the score of 4 – 3 with 5 games to play. How will Anand react and respond in the next 5 games? A note of trivia: The last time Gelfand scored against Anand in a classical game was in 1993.

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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